Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth
by Time Lady Romana
Summary: I always wondered how Thalia and Luke met, what they were doing when they met Annabeth, and also their time on the run. This will be a just a collection of them being them.
1. 1 Starbucks

**Well I was up at 3:25am and I couldn't sleep so I started to write. I always wondered how Thalia and Luke met, what they were doing when they met Annabeth, and also their time on the run. This will be a just a collection of them being them. Well, here you go…**

**Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been Rick Riordan.**

Thalia's POV

The smell of coffee fills my lungs and I take another sip of my mocha, slowly taking in the scene. The walls are painted olive green and pale orange/ yellow, the seats are comfortable but I am sitting at a table by myself. It has been awhile since I had been able to stop and get something to eat or drink, this time I only had enough money to buy some coffee to warm me up. My black hair hits my eyes and I flick it out of my face, it is damp from the pouring rain, maybe on the next stop I will wash it.

An old woman just walked in, she looks about sixty-five, seventy, she just gets a doughnut and sits by the window. I tend to watch everyone who walks in and analyze them to see if they are a threat or not. Two more people walk in and order their drinks and sit in the middle of the room. A boy walks in, he's about my age probably older, he gets a coffee and somehow he steals four of those cake slices they have on display. He has sandy blond hair and sky blue eyes, his hair is a lot like mine, soaked and is tainted brown with dirt, his shirt is torn at the ends and burnt on the front, and he has a thick jacket that looks brand new but drenched with water. Over his shoulder there was a green backpack, it looked like he couldn't fit anything more in there. I wonder what he could possibly have in there that could make it so full, what if he is a monster that has his torture weapons in there and was sent here to murder me? I am constantly looking out for monsters, some of them can be sneaky but most are the type to just attack and not try to trick me. I cast that thought out of my head and continue to observe him. His shoes are badly worn, holes starting to form at the ends, he turns my way and stares at me, but not the way everyone else does. When people see me they stop and stare like I am a freak—which to them I am—my clothes are dirty and my hair a rats nest, I have cuts and bruises all over me, and I smell like I haven't showered in years, which is pretty close to the truth. He stared at me with pity and curiosity instead of looking at me like he wants to kick me out of here and send me to the dogs as he walks up to my table.

"May I sit here?" He didn't wait for me to answer, taking the seat across from me. "I'm Luke, you want some bread?" Luke pushed two chunks of bread towards me and my will crumbled. While I ate he started to ask me a question, I couldn't concentrate on his words because the bread had all of my attention. "So what would a young girl like yourself be doing all alone fighting monsters?" his mouth formed a smirk as I stopped eating and stared at him trying to see if he meant what he said or if he was just messing with me. I didn't even care to notice that he knew about the monsters that haunted me all my life.

"What is a young boy like you doing all alone fighting the monsters away with stolen goods?" I replied, mimicking his smirk. I took the bread that I had put down and took another big bite trying not to moan when it touched my taste buds.

He laughed and grabbed some bread of his own. "Why don't you tell me what you know and vise versa? But first I think we should start with your name."

I don't know why but I decided to trust him, not with my wallet (if I had one) but with information. "Thalia. Thalia Grace."

Luke smiled showing all his teeth. Wow, his smile is ama—no! Don't think that way, I don't even know him. "Well Thalia, we have a long journey ahead of us. Come on, I will get you some new clothes." He looked at his shirt. "And me too." I don't know why, I guess it was the exhaustion, but I burst out laughing and so did Luke. I felt many eyes staring at me but I didn't care who was looking, I was actually enjoying myself for once.

When I stopped laughing I took a deep breath to steady myself and asked, "Where are we going? And where are you going to get us new clothes? I don't have any money."

He got a mischievous glint in his eyes as his smile grew. "New York. And the local Wal-Mart, and trust me you won't need any money. By the way, how good are you at lying?"

**I am so sorry this is so short, I wanted to make it longer but it refused to talk to me… the next chapter should be longer if it is not feel free to throw tomatoes at me. Well review please!**


	2. Meeting Annabeth

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything!**

Thalia's POV

Luke gave me a temporarily weapon to use until we can get me one that will work for me better. His backpack is filled with weapons and dangerous objects, so I figured he could spare one weapon for me to use. We were living in the oddest places, like the forest or alleyways, sometimes even parks, but we always find a place to stay. It is nice to have someone else be there when you're about to get your face eaten off by a monster.

"Luke!" I screamed in his ear. "Luke, wake up!" I shook his shoulder and he jumped up.

"What did I miss?" I looked up over the hill and saw the shapes getting closer.

"A lot, now come on! Grab your shit and let's go!" we ran without looking back muttering a string of curses to the gods. We were in Maryland and can't seem to shake the monsters; Luke told me that there is a place in New York where we could be safe; I hope he is right. The hard part is getting there alive.

"Thalia! Your left!" I turned to my left and saw a knife heading straight to my face. With a yelp I jumped right, falling on the ground, I rolled once my skin touched the ground as I let instinct take over. After I rolled, I knelt on my knees then got into a running position and ran like never before, catching up with Luke in a matter of seconds. I tapped my bracelet and Aegis appeared, I faced it toward the monsters attacking us hoping it would make them at least hesitate. I had found it wrapped in gold on my bed at my home a long time ago. It was a gift from my father, at least that's what the note said.

Up ahead I could see a store—a gas station—we ran toward it swearing so much I expected to be wacked in the face with a purse from some elderly lady for saying such words. We ran inside and barricaded the door then got our weapons ready and made a plan.

"We stand back to back you take half and I the other, got it?" I nodded and concentrated on the sky and storms, summoning all my strength to get a lightning bolt to help us. No such luck. We stood back to back both eyes on the barricade, waiting, calm and determined to get out alive, the shadows and shapes that were following us were ramming the doors I felt my heart beat faster in anticipation.

"Ready?" I asked, my voice sounded strong, I realize that I am looking forward to this fight. Life was just getting too boring; we haven't been in a fight for two nights in a row. A miracle.

"Ready," that's when all hell broke loose.

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My right hand was broken in several places and torso torn and bleeding. I was laughing so hard at Luke that I soaked my bandages with fresh blood.

"Thalia! Stop laughing!" Luke was bandaging up my arm and I was trying to eat some ambrosia, problem was we only had a limited supply of the food of the gods, so I tried to take as little bites as I could.

"How can I? You look ridicules." His hair was black with dirt and untidy, his shirt a mixture of blood and monster glitter, his jeans now look like shorts with mud caked on them. On top of all that he was making faces while setting my bones back in place. " You look like a—" right then Luke put his hand over my mouth and motioned for me to crouch in the shadows.

"There's someone—something—down there." He motioned toward the alley.

I lifted up my spear and shield of terror, Luke grabbed his bronze knife. We probably looked wild, you get that way when you are constantly being attacked by monsters.

A rumble echoed from the alley, like someone had banged on a sheet of metal. We slowly crept forward.

Old crates were stacked on a loading dock. Luke and I approached with our weapons ready. A curtain of corrugated tin quivered as if something were behind it.

I glanced at Luke. He counted silently: _One, two, three!_ He ripped away the tin, and a little girl flew at him with a hammer.

"Whoa!" Luke said.

The girl had tangled blond hair and was wearing flannel pajamas. She couldn't have been more than seven, but she would've brained Luke if he hadn't been so fast.

He grabbed her wrist, and the hammer skittered across the cement.

The little girl fought and kicked. "No more monsters! Go away!"

"It's okay!" Luke struggled to hold her. "Thalia, put your shield up. You're scaring her."

I tapped Aegis, and it shrank into a bracelet.

"Hey, it's all right," I said. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke."

"Monsters!"

"No," Luke promised. "But we all know all about monsters. We fight them too."

Slowly, the girl stopped kicking. She studied Luke and me with large intelligent grey eyes.

"You're like me?" she said with suspicion.

"Yeah," Luke said. "We're… well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"

"My family hates me," the girl said. "They don't want me. I ran away."

I locked eyes with Luke. We both related to what she is saying.

The poor girl, she's so young, and all alone. "What's your name, kiddo?" I asked her.

"Annabeth."

Luke smiled. Wow, his smile seems to blind me, it takes over my thoughts—grr, stop thinking about that. "Nice name. I tell you what, Annabeth—you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You could?"

"Oh, yeah." Luke turned his knife and offered her the handle. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."

I hoped she didn't hurt herself with that knife. Some part of me knew that she is way too smart to hurt herself with that.

Annabeth gripped the hilt.

"Knifes are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," Luke explained. "They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."

Annabeth stared at him with adoration. "I am!"

I felt my mouth turn up into a wide grin. "We'd better get going, Annabeth. We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."

"You're …you're not going to take me back to my family?" she said. "Promise?"

Luke put his hand on her shoulder. "You're part of _our_ family now. And I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I'm _not_ going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"

"Deal!" Annabeth said happily.

"Now, come on," I said. "We can't stay put for long!" with that we headed back to where we were. Annabeth gripped one of my hands and one of Luke's. "Where do you want to go to eat Annabeth?"

"Ummm, Mc. Donald's!" she squealed.

Luke chuckled. "Alright, let's go to Mc. D's. My treat." He said with a wink. I knew he wasn't going to pay, he's a child of Hermes, the god of thieves.

**Well, I just got back from Indiana and I am trying to stay awake and the plane made me nauseous for hours. I hate planes. Please review or I will…uh…give you a…stuffed dinosaur? That sounds good. Review and you'll get a virtual stuffed dinosaur. **


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